by Hadena James
“What do you think? Daytime or nighttime?” Eli asked.
“Neither, I think they are waiting for us to come to them,” I answered.
“What happens if we don’t?” Eli continued.
“I think if we don’t, they bring chaos to the city. I think that all those creatures are here, trapped in some time and space continuum that we can’t enter and they can’t escape, until the chosen moment.”
“Can they do that?” Ba’al asked.
“There are few limits to what a Witch can do with a little help.”
“Yes, but trapping beings in a time/space continuum that doesn’t adhere to the rules of nature?” Ba’al continued.
“All magic defies the laws of nature. Some more than others, but essentially, all of it. Warping time and space is fully within the confines of a Witch’s capabilities. I don’t think I could do it, but if one in my coven did, I could feed them all the magic they needed for it.”
“Witches don’t work as individuals, do they?” Fenrir asked.
“Not really. I’m powerful, but it’s just that, power. Raw and unwieldy. It has to be formed and shaped. I’m exactly what Prunella said, a conduit. My siblings have less raw magic but more control. So they begin forming the magic and I feed it to them. Individually, we are easily broken...” I shrugged.
“A House divided,” Ba’al said.
“A house divided. As an individual, I am a force to be reckoned with. But with my coven, we could be unstoppable.”
Chapter Fifteen
Silence followed that statement. I hadn’t meant to imply I was omnipotent with my coven. Like any machine or magical mechanization, a coven was the sum of its parts. Powerful Witches made even more powerful covens. There was a reason I couldn’t form weapon spells or bend the space/time continuum. It was too much for one person to wield. Those responsibilities fell on my siblings, my coven members. They could do those things; they could use my magic to do it. But somewhere within the coven was an impulse, a collective voice of sanity, which told us doing so would be evil.
It seemed to Elders, Witches were bound only by the five forbidden spells. This isn’t the case. The five forbidden spells are a death sentence except under very special circumstances. Outside of that, there was a rule similar to the Hippocratic Oath, do no harm. Witches should never aim to injure Humans, Elders or other Witches except in self defense.
Having said that, a rogue coven was the exception. I’d heard of them in the past, but never dealt with one. And this one seemed like a real problem. They were organized. There was planning involved. There was coordination. And I was willing to bet that Anubis was right, there were many hands controlling the mass.
This information didn’t make me feel any better. If anything, it made me feel worse. There was a feeling of hopelessness associated with it. Small disorganized covens were easily defeated.
“If the portal here is a trap, what about the other one that Gregorian said was open?” Eli broke the silence.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“Me either,” Anubis answered, “it seems unlikely that they would be laying a trap in both places. So, I’m not sure why they have a second one open. Unless it is their intended escape route.”
Anubis’s phone rang, making me jump in the darkened room. Prunella got up and began turning on lights. Parts of me felt sorry for her. Here she was with interlopers in her home, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Uh huh,” Anubis said, his eyes darkening with anger.
Ba’al’s phone rang while Anubis was still talking on his. I turned to stare at it. Too many phones ringing. Whatever it was, it was going to be bad.
Fenrir and Gabriel’s phones rang next. Eli looked at me, his eyes widening. The Overlords were all emanating waves of anger and something darker.
Anubis hung up first. He closed his eyes and popped the tendons in his neck. His jaws were hanging open slightly, revealing his sharp jackal teeth.
“What is it?” I asked when he didn’t volunteer.
“We are going to have to return to KC,” he opened his eyes.
“Do you need me or not?” I asked.
“Probably not,” Anubis rubbed a hand down his face.
“What is it exactly?”
“Someone just staked a bunch of Vampires,” he said.
“That’s stupid.”
“Yes, yes it is. But since they got Jonathan as well as a couple of others, it seems it was planned and organized.”
“They got Jonathan?”
“Yes, it seems that several Witches raided a party at someone’s house. Bespelled all of them and then shoved stakes into their hearts. The stakes weren’t wooden, but they were long enough to pin the group to the ground. Your mother and Rachel are sending some of your left behind coven, I’m guessing Lessers, to deal with the magical aftermath. However, I am going to have to return to make sure that things do not get out of control.”
“Understood.”
“I think we are all going to have to go,” Ba’al stood.
I frowned at him.
“Someone just set fire to several Gargoyle houses. I have a dozen or so that are stone that will need a safe place to change back,” he explained.
“Yeah, they hit us too. There was a hunt scheduled for tonight. While the hunt was preparing at Loki’s house, several Witches came in and cast a spell. Now they are all stuck half-way through the change.”
“Me too,” Gabriel sighed.
“What’d they do to the Angels?” Eli asked.
“That was Ezekiel. He got a call from someone claiming to be Olivia. She said they were under attack and needed more Elders. Ezekiel called a gaggle together and they were attacked on the road to our house. By Witches, who bespelled most of the group and ran away with them. Ezekiel got a call about an hour later with instructions on where to find them. They are all trapped in a box at the bottom of a lake without their wings.”
“Guess it’s a good thing breathing is optional,” Eli said.
“True, but they are damaging each other and Ezekiel can’t find a way to get them up from the bottom of the lake because they are surrounded by spectators. Most of the spectators are Human and the box is glass.”
“Go, we’ll stay here,” I told them all.
“We’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“Don’t worry about us, we can handle this lot. You go deal with your duties as Overlords.”
“Brenna, nothing stupid,” Anubis warned me.
“Ani, don’t worry about us. We know what the score is at the moment and we know how to deal with it.”
“Here, we can get you to the airport,” the police officer stood up.
“We’ll take care of it, just need access to the roof,” Gabriel stretched his wings.
“Be careful.”
“We’re going to leave the plane,” Anubis told me.
“Ok.”
There was a strange popping noise. Pendragon suddenly stood in the living room with us. I squeezed my nose shut and blew hard to get my ears to pop again.
“I’m here to make sure you get home,” Pendragon said.
“Ask and ye shall receive,” I smiled at Pendragon.
Chapter Sixteen
There was another popping noise. All five Elder Overlords disappeared. I waited for the air to go back to normal before speaking.
“Ok, well, we’ll have to change our plans a little bit,” I said after the air seemed to de-electrify.
“Yes, like who is going to handle the mythical creatures,” Samuel said glumly.
“Actually, I was thinking we would need to prioritize better. If the mythics are not running amok, then we can probably ignore them,” I said.
“I have a suggestion, but you aren’t going to like it,” Eli frowned at me.
“No, I won’t bring the chimeras into it. Something intelligent and capable needs to man the Island.”
“I wasn’t thinking chimeras, I was thinking of Cerebus,” Eli loo
ked at the floor.
“Cerebus,” I repeated the name.
“Yes, Cerebus. If we can control him, he could benefit us by dealing with the mythics. Everything on the Island goes out of their way to avoid him. He’ll eat anything and he’s big enough to do as he pleases with any mythic brought here.”
“I don’t know if we can control Cerebus,” I pointed out the most obvious flaw.
“We may not, but Nick probably can,” Eli looked at my brother.
“Cerebus isn’t dead,” I said.
“No, he isn’t, but he also isn’t very bright and he is called the Hell-Hound for a reason, Bren. It isn’t just because he is big and scary.”
“Why is he called the Hell-Hound then?”
“Because he isn’t exactly alive either,” Eli gave me a look like I should understand what he was talking about. Since I didn’t, I stared back at him blankly.
“Eli may be onto something here. The stories say that Cerebus was resurrected, that’s when he became immortal,” Daniel offered.
“I’m unfamiliar with that story,” I told Daniel.
“Legend says that Cerebus was sent to hell for being an evil dog and someone resurrected him. When his soul returned to his body, he became a slobbering, vile thing to be avoided at all costs. He started as someone’s pet. In theory, Cerebus is what would happen to any pet not returned to death,” Daniel said.
“Ok, so what does that mean? Does that mean that there has been at least one other being like Nick? Capable of resurrection?”
“No, they used Pandora’s Box to resurrect Cerebus.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure dad or the Overlords would though,” Daniel said.
“How do you know it isn’t just a bedtime story?”
“I don’t,” Daniel shrugged.
Since the conversation about Cerebus didn’t seem to be getting anywhere, I gave up. I shrugged at Daniel and looked at Nick. Nick looked terrified.
“We are not going to make any attempts to use Cerebus. That’s more than just insane. That’s...” I couldn’t think of a word to describe what I actually thought of it.
“I don’t really want to try,” Nick said.
“Good, that’s done then. Any other suggestions?”
“What else is there? How can we deal with the mythics as well as the rogue Witches?” Samuel sounded defeated.
“There’s a solution, we just haven’t found it yet. I think Cerebus was a novel idea, but it wouldn’t work in reality. Even if he is a reanimated corpse of someone’s pet, I don’t think we can control it, even with Nick,” I said.
“What can we do?” Prunella asked.
“What are your specialties?” Eli asked her.
“Personally or as a coven?” She countered.
“Both,” Eli answered.
“Oh, well, I don’t know. It’s been a while since I did any magic. I’m sure there is something though. I used to be very good at protection spells. But I’m sure we can do more than that.”
Chapter Seventeen
With Anubis gone, my nostalgic attraction to the city also disappeared. It still held appeal; after all, it was a city with a rich history and amazing stories. But I had few memories connected with it and even fewer emotions to draw from it. Maybe one day, when life became somewhat normal, I would return to revel in the sights and sounds. I might even bring Anubis so I can feel the city as he feels it.
Looking out the darkened window, with the Overlords missing, there was another feeling rising. This one was more ominous, it was of impending doom. Berlin’s ancient streets and closely knit buildings were the makings of a crypt or a giant mausoleum from which we may not be able to return. That sad and dreadful feeling was overwhelming for a few minutes. I felt it touch all of my siblings, felt their sadness and dread mingle with it.
For the first time, I was standing on my own. I was fighting a battle without the help and protection of the Overlords. Daniel and I were the two most powerful beings in the room and I wasn’t sure we were enough.
My siblings sat quietly. As did the other Witches in the room. Everyone seemed to be afraid to talk, afraid that if they broke the silence, chaos would ensue. I felt we were sitting in a tomb, waiting for grave robbers to loot and pillage us.
It also affirmed something that had been nagging me in the back of my mind. Pendragon hadn’t been needed. They had attacked the Elders to get the Overlords to leave. They wouldn’t have attacked them on their way to the airport, they would have scurried back here looking for the help of the Witches. However, the Overlords were gone and they didn’t know it because they hadn’t seen them leave. They were still waiting.
“This is unproductive,” I announced standing, “they’re waiting for the Overlords to leave before they attack. They don’t realize that they’re gone.”
“What do you suggest?” Prunella asked me.
“Something to flush them out,” I stared around the room.
The idea hit me suddenly. Mythics running amok in Berlin would be bad, but what if we could get them to follow us through their portal? Drag all of them back to the Island. The Island where the chimeras would be on our side. The Island that Pendragon had built and maintained. The Island that appealed to the mythics as well.
“You have a plan,” Daniel told me.
“Yes, what if we moved the fight? Instead of being here in Berlin, what if we used their portal to take us to the Island? We’d have the chimeras. There’s a decent chance most of the mythics would just wander off, that is their home after all. They go nuts in cities and around Humans. They do fine on the Island.”
“What about the hell hound?” Nick asked with a grimace.
“He would be at home, not rampaging on some city street. But Cerebus does fine on the Island. He isn’t constantly tracking down things to eat there. I don’t think he’d even notice us. After all, while most of us have left the Island, there are still some Elders there,” I was thinking specifically of the Centaurs. All of them still lived on the Island. There were others as well though, all the breeds had “stragglers”. A few independents who were loyal to their Overlords but unwilling to join Humans in creating an integrated society. We even had a cousin there, one of Mammon’s children was a “straggler”.
“Move the fight to the Island?” Prunella looked at me with fear in her eyes.
“It keeps us from destroying Fernseherturm, Alexanderplatz and a hundred other historic buildings and keeps the fight away from the Humans. Especially the mythics,” I told her.
“I’ve never been to the Island.” She told me.
“I have, a few times, not many. But we would have the help of the chimeras and the help of the Elders that still inhabit the Island. They will not take kindly to evil Witches invading their sacred space.”
“And worse comes to worse, we can always have Cerebus come eat them,” Eli suggested.
“I’ve seen that. I’d rather not see it again,” I reminded him.
“That’s right and when we need him to go away, we’ll just make you throw up,” Eli smiled at either me or the memory, I wasn’t sure.
“So gross. What do you say?” I turned my attention back to the Witch at my side.
She took several minutes to think. Her face, lined with years and ancient smiles, was pinched, making her look her age. Her grey hair was immaculately pinned back in a style that had gone out with the Roaring Twenties. However, neither age nor fashion detracted from her looks. To look at her now was to see a woman who had once been beautiful and still retained a handsome femininity despite having lived through some of Germany’s most horrific times.
“Well, Brenna, I guess we do it. How do we get there?”
“I’ve been thinking about that and I think we need to stop time. Not long, just long enough for us to get to the portal. They will have someone watching it, they have to. We get to the portal, begin time again and let them watch us go through it.”
“Oh,” she frowned hard at me.
“I know stopping time is dangerous, but I don’t think we can slink through the streets any other way. Besides, if we stop time, they aren’t hurling fireballs or poison arrows at us and hitting Humans going about their normal business.”
“I understand, but to stop time…” She shrugged at me.
It was my turn to frown. I understood her hesitation. Stopping time wasn’t forbidden, but it was extremely dangerous. Elders were unaffected. Witches in the coven that cast it were untouched by the stoppage as well. However, there would be a circle of several miles where time would cease. They would be a few seconds or minutes behind the rest of the world. The real danger wasn’t in casting the spell. It was in reversing it. If the coven couldn’t summon enough magic to reverse it, it could stay that way indefinitely. Worse, it took more magic to reverse than to cast. And things could go horribly wrong. It didn’t affect mechanisms, meaning cars didn’t freeze, subway trains would still run, ovens would continue to cook. The longer time was frozen, the harder it was to reverse.
“How long will it take us to get from here to Alexanderplatz?”
“It’s about 2 miles,” Prunella informed me.
“Twenty minute walk. Eight minutes in a car,” her nephew told me.
Vaguely, I remembered the name of the road, Rykestrasse. The house was hidden in a group of apartment buildings. I doubted the Humans in the neighborhood actually knew it existed. They probably thought it was another apartment building.
However, the street was narrow. There was a synagogue visible outside the window. It was dark and a weeknight. That would limit some traffic, but the area had become trendy in recent years. There were lots of bars and restaurants in the area. We would be out of place on foot and twenty minutes was entirely too long to freeze time. Eight minutes was too long to freeze time. I had hoped it would only be a few minutes hike.
“Ok, that ruins that idea,” I sighed in resignation.
“What about a cloaking spell?” Samuel offered.